Monday, September 11, 2017

The rare modern stadium without a corporate sponsor. Alas, Nationals Park doesn’t exactly ring out as requiring a lot of deep thought, though it is a nod to the place that predated old Griffith Stadium.

One would think the club’s D.C. location would offer ample naming opportunities for the ballpark. Then again, one would think the club’s D.C. location offered the architects ample opportunities for exciting backdrops, and they failed miserably in what’s an ...

With the National League pennant clinched on Monday, wagers were paid off yesterday, and [Arnold] Rothstein’s confidence in the ability of the Giants to capture the flag—a confidence born last fall—netted him the tidy sum of $120,000.

He wagered on the Giants at odds varying from 100 to 1 to even money, but the bulk of it was places at 5 to 6.

Mookie Betts left the game in the eighth inning with left wrist pain, Eduardo Nunez reaggravated his knee injury and left in the fifth inning and Drew Pomeranz, the Red Sox’ clear No. 2 starter, lasted only two-plus innings, allowing five runs while pitching with lower-than-normal velocity for the second straight game.

Baseball’s postseason has regularly been swallowed up by the NFL, and despite lesser TV ratings and alarm bells going off over long-term CTE issues, the NFL continues to dominate — last year’s Cubs-Indians World Series was an exception to the rule.

But there’s a chance that baseball could again have a postseason to ...

Cases against George Weaver and Fred McMullin of the Chicago American League club were dismissed in the [Boston] Police Court [yesterday]. They were charged with assaulting Augustine J. McNally of Norwood during a disturbance on the ball field during a previous visit of the Chicago club to this city…The complainant and his witnesses failed to appear.

Obviously Buck Weaver and Fred McMullin were fine, upstanding ballplayers who would never commit any ...

Ballplayers, however, will likely continue to speak up. The latest: Yankees starter CC Sabathia, who was asked yesterday whether he would visit the White House if the playoff-bound Yankees won the World Series. From the Daily News:

“Never. I just don’t believe in anything that is Trump. So there wouldn’t be any reason for me to go at all. I just think it’s stupid. I just think it’s dumb that he’s addressing players and stuff that he shouldn’t be. But it is what it is, and ...

After a season filled with positive press, a crack in the narrative is exposed.

“When I put a player in the lineup, every situation, every pitch, every out is important,” he said. “It’s important that I guys I write in the lineup, I can trust them. So that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Puig took off for second base with two outs in the ninth inning but was thrown out when he didn’t slide, saying he felt something in his left ankle as he neared the base. Roberts said Puig was ...

How next year won’t be like this year: “I think we’re going to see a younger team. We’ve got arguably the best prospect in the game (outfielder Ronald Acuna) pushing his way up to Atlanta. He’s going to be given every opportunity in spring training. When he’s ready, nobody’s going to stand in his way. I said the same thing about Ozzie Albies this spring, and it’s the same way. You saw where we moved Brandon Phillips to third base. We will move other people to make way for this ...

Others who have seen the Marlins’ books all say the same thing: The unpopular franchise is saturated with debt. The club’s current television contract runs out in a few years, and it’s unclear how much growth the Marlins can expect, given the club’s struggles on the field. A lot of Miami baseball fans have been unhappy with the way that the team’s relatively new ballpark was funded, and they have stayed away from a place that isn’t easy to access before games and isn’t easy to ...

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Jacob deGrom has been the last ace standing for the Mets for most of this season, pitching more innings than Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz have thrown combined.

Coming off of season-ending elbow one year ago, it is of no small significance that deGrom reached the 200-inning plateau for the first time in his major-league career on Sunday. DeGrom tossed another six strong frames, despite suffering the defeat to Washington ace Max Scherzer in a 3-2 loss to the Nationals.

Wherever he goes these days, Byron Buxton has a new constant companion: A rectangular blue box called the True Wave that helps speed his recovery from a bone contusion in his left hand.

“That’s my best friend,” Buxton said Saturday afternoon as he sat at his Comerica Park locker.

In between baseball activities at the park and during his down time at the hotel or while flying from city to city, Buxton has found relief in hooking up a small, oval-shaped electrode patch to the back of his ...

WAR numbers can also vary based on the formulas used to calculate them. Defensive metrics are also getting more refined and accurate. And there are these things called your eyes. If you’ve followed a player all season you understand his value regardless of what the numbers say. Usually the numbers back up the eyes and the instincts.

When I first wrote about Matt Olson, he was 20 years old and wrapping up a season where he led the Pacific Coast League with 37 home runs. Three years later, he’s showing off his prodigious power in an Oakland uniform. Since being called up by the A’s in mid June, the sweet-swinging first baseman has gone deep 24 times in 210 plate appearances. His slash line is a McGwire-esque .262/.357/.667.

The bridge between those aforementioned seasons included an impactful mechanical adjustment. ...

The CBA says, “The Commissioner may impose strict penalties on any Club that attempts to circumvent the system.” What exactly would the Commissioner do? Loss of pick(s)? Fine? Spanking? Would any team blow through the cap to sign Otani?

Saturday, September 23, 2017

“The reality is that any economic modeling that includes projections is not going to like a deadline deal, where you’re trading what could be an enormous amount of future value for a decent amount of present value,” says Luhnow. “The math does not support these types of deals. It’s a matter of using your best judgment.”